Chapter 356: The Duke of Qin is the worst (2) (1/2)
Chapter 356: The Duke of Qin is the worst (2)
Three strikes of the hammer sold the third medicinal ingredient at a Heaven’s-high price of 2,000,000 taels to the imperial uncle estate’s Third Young Master Li Leyuan.
Now all three items had been sold. The auction should be finished now, but no one expected things to end so soon. It hadn’t even taken an hour! Li Leyuan strode briskly back to his seat. Even now, he had no idea that he’d made such an idiotic move. But there were plenty of intelligent people in the crowd would did understand. General Baili hadn’t been bidding in earnest, but simply trying to raise the price. If he hadn’t spoiled the third auction, then the crown prince would’ve bought the item for 150,000 taels and taken it back. But thanks to his efforts, then Li Leyuan’s brainless bid, the imperial uncle’s estate would now have to pay 1,850,000 more taels than the original bid. That was no small sum. Would the imperial uncle die from fury once he heard the total? In any case, there were delighted and fearful parties alike amongst the crowd!
Li Leyuan didn’t treat it as a big deal at all. As far as he knew, father had plenty of money. He didn’t know the exact numbers, but they should be able to afford it. Long Tianmo and Qinwang Rong’s faces had both turned ashen white. Mu Qingwu really wanted to laugh, but forced himself to keep a straight face. Meanwhile, Mu Liuyue had long grew dazed behind him. She couldn’t help but wonder whether the imperial uncle’s estate really was that wealthy. More than a few people stole glances at His Highness Duke of Qin, who was still leisurely enjoying his tea. They couldn’t help but shiver at the sight. Everything that General Baili had done was at that icy-faced duke’s instigation, after all. The calmest man in the room was also the most fearsome one.
“Your Highness, that was brilliant,” Han Yunxi murmured. She was originally planning to snag a few hundred thousand taels at most from the imperial uncle’s estate, but Long Feiye had exceeded that number multiple times.
Long Feiye simply poured her a cup of tea without saying a word. Zhao mama was smiling so widely that she couldn’t close her mouth anymore. She was about to proclaim a successful end to the auction when an announcement came from the door.
“Esteemed Empress Dowager arrives!”
That’s right. Empress Dowager Li had arrived. She had never gone to anyone’s birthday banquet before, besides the late emperor and Emperor Tianhui. Grand Concubine Yi was her irreconcilable enemy, so she’d never bothered with hers at all. But this time’s banquet was different. The form differed as well, so she had no choice but to attend. Of course, she had to keep her status in mind and arrive fashionably late. Naturally, she’d calculated the perfect time to show up. After the banquet was over, the auction would start. She figured that they had to put up at least ten items for sale. Her current arrival was, to her estimation, neither too late nor too early. It would give her the perfect chance to buy some things and express her goodwill to the disaster victims. Then she could drink a few cups of tea and return to the palace.
When everyone swiveled to look at the door, they saw esteemed empress dowager enter the building in her informal dress with only a few court ladies in attendance.
“May Esteemed Empress Dowager live for thousands and thousands of years!” the crowd greeted.
Empress Dowager Li smoothed her willowy eyebrows into a loving expression. “Rise, rise. Everyone may rise.”
Everyone rose in bewilderment. There was no way news could travel that quickly. The empress dowager couldn’t have shown up because Li Leyuan bid such an exorbitant price on the last item. But the auction was already over, so what was the point of her arrival now?
The empress dowager sat elegantly in the seat next to Qinwang Rong and glanced at Zhao mama onstage. “Continue.” As she spoke, she murmured to Qinwang Rong in a low voice, “Have you two made any bids yet?”
But Li Leyuan simply laughed. “Grandaunt, the auction’s finished ages ago!”
Immediately, the empress dowager was thrown into an awkward situation. Finished? How could that be? The silent air only embarrassed the empress dowager further. She coughed lightly a few times and asked Qinwang Rong in a quiet voice, “What’s going on?”
Qinwang Rong had no idea how to explain the situation. In the end, he gave a concise summary of everything that had happened in the past hour. The empress dowager forgot all about feeling awkward as she glared at Li Leyuan! If not for everyone else here, she’d definitely beat that brat to death! There was no way that the imperial uncle’s estate could provide 2,000,000 taels of silver immediately!
“How could this be? Why were there only three things?” the empress dowager murmured anxiously.
What could Qinwang Rong say? That was a question for Han Yunxi.
“Imperial grandmother, what do we do now? We’ll have to pay at least 1,200,000 taels upfront,” Long Tianmo couldn’t help adding. He had come today to seize the spotlight for the imperial clan, not lose face!
The empress dowager was so furious that her entire person grew unwell. Her face paled significantly, but she maintained her cool and chuckled. “It looks like I’ve come too late?” While dealing with the current scene, she ordered in a low voice, “Quickly send people to the imperial uncle’s estate and have them think of a way to fix this.”
She couldn’t think of any ideas herself. She could try to cut the wages and makeup budget of all the members in the imperial harem, but only to a certain extent. The national treasury had been in a sorry state for multiple years now, so life in the imperial harem was already less splendid than before. For the sake of keeping up appearances, she’d even spent much of her own private funds for her birthday banquet. From what she understood, the imperial uncle’s estate didn’t have much ready cash available either. Still, the imperial uncle would think of a way somehow.
“We’ve sent people over long ago. I don’t think they’ve arrived yet,” Qinwang Rong answered quietly. Palaces located on the outskirts of the capital were still some distance from their current location. Otherwise, the empress dowager would’ve received news of this disaster sooner as well instead of embarrassing herself.
“Then it’s good that they’ve gone. Don’t panic yet, the imperial uncle will definitely find a solution.” So speaking, she leisurely picked up a cup of tea and asked, “Duke of Qin, where is your mufei? It’s her birthday banquet, but I haven’t seen any sign of her.”
The empress dowager might be old and wracked with muddle-headedness thanks to her constant insomnia, but she had braved her share of stormy times. Under public scrutiny, she still managed to hold herself together–with difficulty. There was no way she’d let public opinion of the imperial clan change while she was out in the open. Even if Han Yunxi had made her tumble in private and forced her side to dish out over 2,000,000 taels of silver, she was still going to find a way to gain an advantage. The Duke of Qin’s estate couldn’t succeed all the way.
“Mufei caught a chill and returned home. If Esteemed Empress Dowager misses her, you may visit the estate,” Long Feiye was always blunt with his words.
How could the empress dowager really visit Grand Concubine Yi at home? Still, she wore an expression of concern. “Why was she so careless? Did you call for an imperial physician?”